Their first collaboration, established more than a decade ago, is still going strong. In 2014, RFU and LCHD expanded access to behavioral health care by deploying Chicago Medical School psychiatry residents to LCHD’s outpatient clinic.

“We’re a force multiplier for physician capacity,” said Residency Director Paul Hung, MD ’10, R ’14. “Our residents are U.S. medical school graduates and fully licensed physicians. They bring an academic lens and a rigorous degree of care to the most underserved people in our region. We’re enhancing their training while impressing upon them the importance of serving the community.”

Untreated mental illness can have a significant negative impact on public health, affecting the well-being of individuals, families and communities through increased rates of unemployment, substance misuse, crime, suicide and homelessness.